Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay Fishing Report 11-21-2012

Trout and Turkey

Anthony DeiCicchi and I spent an especially cold night plying the waters of Long Pond in Plymouth this week. We launched our kayaks at 10 and we each caught a single fish. Neither was our brown trout target, and neither was big. Anthony, who’d gotten soaked, shivered uncontrollably shivered the entire ride home. Fortunately, it seems like most other anglers had much better fishing experiences on the sweetwater this week, and things are looking promising going into the long weekend.

There are still small stripers in the Cape Cod Canal (and I suspect along the Sandwich beaches and in some of the south side ponds), but given the fact that most of these stripers are 12 to 16 inches, you’re better off targeting trout. They’ll be the same size, and you’ll likely catch more of them.

Trout fishing is still good in Big Cliff, Hamblin, Spectacle and Long Pond in Plymouth, as long as you go in the daylight. Anglers fishing Peters Pond are seeing lots of rising fish, and while many are focused on flies and insects, if you can get a live shiner in front of them, often they will eat it. Other natural baits like nightcrawlers or waxworms are working as well. Curiously, PowerBait has not been quite as effectively lately, suggesting the trout from the fall stocking have acclimated to the natural forage in their new homes.

Artificial lures will work as well. Small spoons and small stickbaits are two trout favorites. Tiny jigs are also effective. Spinners, while not seeing much use on Cape ponds, are also very effective.

Largemouth bass are still hitting. Use coldwater presentation such as jerkbaits with long pauses. If you’d rather fish bait, live shiners never go out of style when targeting largemouth bass.

Smallmouth bass are still being caught. Christian at Falmouth Bait and tackle caught one from shore at Hamblin this week. As water cools, smallmouth will move to deep water structure and bunch up, and anglers with boats and good electronics can find these fish and do well with blade baits and jigging spoons. I’m not sure if we’ve hit that point of the season yet, but it should be coming up soon.

Even if you don’t have electronics on your johnboat or canoe or kayak, you can still look for these fish by referencing a good chart of the lake and fishing submerged points in deeper water.

Panfish are another good late fall option. Perch are always willing biters, as are bluegills. If you can track down some crappies, they are usually a little bigger and put up a little better fight than the bluegills or perch.

Pickerel are another option as they don’t seem to slow down their feeding in the cold water. I sang the praises of the pickerel in last week’s forecast.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Get after some trout. There are definitely some big ones stirring now. I’m hearing about more sightings of big browns cruising the shoreline and large rainbows crashing the surface after flies. Bring some natural bait and a few lures.